Our Sept. 19, 2026 conference took place at The Heartwood at Vassar. We had a full house at this great, new venue!
Faculty members included Michelle McAvoy, Publisher/CEO of The Little Press, who presented "Whose Voice is it Anyway? Voice and Point of View in Kidlit," Elizabeth Barton, Executive Editor at Simon Spotlight, who spoke about beginning readers, early chapter books and young graphic novels, and Kelsey Horton, Executive Editor at Delacorte Press, who ran a workshop about elevating middle grade and YA novels, from Plot Points to Jacket Copy.
A special presentation on school visits was given by bestselling author Josh Funk, whose books include "Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast," and its sequels and many other wonderful picture books!
And special thanks to Shannon Gallagher, an agent with Wernick & Pratt, who conducted one-on-one critiques all day.
There was an informative Q&A session with the editors and agent, who enlightened us about many aspects of the kidlit industry, at the end of the day.
We also honored our friend and colleague, Valerie Marchini, who passed away this past summer, with a fun trivia game -- something she would have loved! We miss you, Val.
Many thanks to our hard-working CWHV committee: Angela Calabrese, Tara Cerven, Catherine Ciocchi, Della Ferreri, and Karen Orloff.
Some nice feedback:"Thank you again for a FABULOUS conference! It was a pleasure to meet you. I had the best time, and absolutely plan to attend next year." -- Angela Antonelli (first-time conference attendee)
"Thank you and your whole team for another wonderful event yesterday.
I just love the CWHV conferences and that fantastic group of genuinely good people." -- John Ebbert
"Thanks again to you and the CWHV team for another outstanding writing conference! I left feeling so inspired, and am at my computer today with the goal of implementing Michelle McAvoy's instruction on voice and point of view, and Kelsey Horton's lessons on plot into my work-in-progress." -- Linda Hanlon
Click on "Pics" for photos of the event.
